{"id":10670,"date":"2012-06-04T17:15:52","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T17:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cncadventures.com\/?p=10670"},"modified":"2020-06-07T17:38:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T17:38:43","slug":"the-last-supper-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cncadventures.com\/?p=10670","title":{"rendered":"The Last Supper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Milan, Lombardy, Italy Tuesday, September 4, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Relic in Church of San Marco<\/p><\/div>\n

Milan, fashion capital of Italy, and we must be making a statement in our conevertible hiking pants and gore tex rain gear. When you see this as all the fashion rage next year, you will know where it started!
\nBreakfast here was not bad, we had hard boiled eggs, croissants and some meat and cheese. We are moving a little slower today as we should have plenty of time to see what we want so no need to rush.
\nWe have decided to forego the Milan transportation system and use our two feet to get us around today. We have to find our way to the first stop, the Risorgimento Museum. Walking along the streets we start to get a feel for the city. Traffic is steady on some streets but not to bad, nowhere near crazy Rome traffic. There are lots of motorcycles and scooters and bikes mixed in on the roads to make it interesting. It is interesting to see men in business suits riding on a Vespa while talking on their cell phones.<\/p>\n

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Fresco in San Marco<\/p><\/div>\n

Getting close to our destination, we see a church across the street, so we must go check it out. The church of San Marco is beautiful and we enter through a side door that immediately opens up to a 700 year old fresco. We spend some time checking it out and trying to glean what we can from the descriptions which are all in Italian.<\/p>\n

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Napoleans Crown<\/p><\/div>\n

Up the street we head and find the Risorgimento Museum. I had read about this small museum which shows the history of Italy and this region leading up to the unification of Italy in 1870.
\nAlthough this too is all in Italian, the displays are nice and with the dates and picking out a few words, you can piece together the history pretty well. I was not aware that Napolean had a big presence here and was even coronated in Milan as King of Italy. They have some beautiful art work depicting certain events and uniforms and flags of the times. The museum intrigued me so I will have to do some more reading on the history here when we get home.<\/p>\n

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Church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie<\/p><\/div>\n

We finished the museum and headed out towards the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. We have a schedule to keep here as we have reserved a time to see The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci from 1495 to 1497. We arrive at noon for our 1245 reservation. Good thing we reserved as they are sold out for the day. They only let about 900 visitors in a day, 25 every 15 minutes. You wait in several rooms before entering the painting room to be de- humidified. The experimental technique that Da Vinci used began deteriorating within six years of being painted. That combined with several touch ups over the years, being damaged by Napoleans troops who used the room as a barracks and a barn, WWII bombings which damaged other parts of the church but left this wall untouched, now means that the restored painting is protected very well.<\/p>\n

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Brochure Shot No Pics<\/p><\/div>\n

When we get in, it is much larger than Carol thought. It is truly a masterpiece painted by a mathematical genius. The lines, depth, and symmetry all give it a 3 dimensional feel and draw your eyes to Jesus in the middle. Leonardo painted this in the moment before Judas was brought to light as the one who betrayed him. Unlike other renditions, this is the moment right after Jesus says “one of you will betray me” but before the traitor is identified. They found a nail hole in Jesus eye that Leonardo used to make sure the measurements of the painting was accurate. It took them 21 years to peel away the old touch ups of the centuries and bring this back to the original layer. They could not restore the painting below Jesus where the monks who used this as a dining room carved an opening for a door which cut away Jesus feet from the painting. Even though you only get about 10 minutes to see and admire it, we are glad that we did.<\/p>\n

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In Sforza Courtyard<\/p><\/div>\n

We have lunch in the church courtyard and then head over to the Sforza Castle. The Sforzas were the ruling family of Milan, much like the Medicis in Venice. The castle is tremendous wit extremely high brick walls and towers surrounding the huge grounds. There was also the obligatory moat to make attack even more difficult. There are several museums included when you tour the castle even though the grounds are free. At 3 Euros each, it is quite a bargain and much more extensive than we realized. There is a museum of ancient art, Egyptian museum, furniture museum, musical instrument museum, and many displays throughout.<\/p>\n

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Unfinished Pieta<\/p><\/div>\n

There is even an unfinished Michelangelo, the Pieta Rondanini, his uncompleted work when he died. It allows you to see the marble in its raw chiseled form and see his mastery in the finished polished parts of the statue. We spend several hours in the castle and then head back toward the Duomo and home. Along the way, we go through the trendy Brera neighborhood and have some gelato to help our spirits. Near the Duoomo, we stop at a cafeteria type place where they serve cheap pasta and other food. It is one of the few places open for dinner at six and as we are tired we do not want to wait another hour or more to eat. The food is very tasty and plentiful.<\/p>\n

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Impromptu Street Jazz Concert<\/p><\/div>\n

When we leave we hear music up a side street and go to investigate. A band is set up in the street near a bar playing some jazz music mix. We hang out with the pretty people of Milan listening to music and people watching. It is a great time. As we leave and walk home the streets are filled with people doing their evening passagieta and enjoying the evening. We have had a full day and are ready to just get our feet off the ground.
\nCNC
\n“There is no happiness for the person who does not travel. For Indra is the friend of the traveler, therefore wander. – Brahmann<\/strong><\/p>\n

Expenses
\n4E-Risorgimento Museum
\n16E- The Last Supper, pre-paid
\n6E-Sforza Castle
\n5E-2 gelatos
\n18.25E- pasta dinners and wine at Ciao
\n66E-Eurohotel<\/p>\n

Miles Walked – 10.25 Miles<\/p>\n\n\t\t